Maine Legal Overview The highest court in Maine is the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, comprised of seven justices appointed by the Governor for seven year terms. There is no other appellate court in Maine, so the Supreme Judicial Court is the first and last resort for most appeals. The Superior Court is the main trial court with statewide general jurisdiction and has 17 justices appointed by the Governor for seven year terms. The District Court is divided into 13 judicial districts with limited jurisdiction over small claims, juvenile cases, certain family civil cases involving amounts less than $30,000 and criminal cases without felony.
Top metro Maine areas for Legal Issues: Portland-Lewiston-South Portland
1. Maine does not have a capital punishment law since the death penalty was abolished in 1887. Certain landmark cases arising out of Maine had a national impact on states' rights. In Alden v. Maine (1999), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Article One of the U.S. Constitution does not allow the U.S. Congress to give citizens the right to sue a state in its own courts without the state's consent. In Maine v. Taylor (1986), the court allowed that one state could discriminate against another state's products if there was a legitimate purpose and a non-discriminatory remedy was not available. 2. A man from northern Maine is currently being held without bail for a 1998 murder. 3. A total of $18,000 in donations will help pay for a Maine task force's work that will look into electronic monitoring systems for those guilty of domestic violence.
Trending Maine Legal Topics: The Maine State Bar Association (MSBA) is a voluntary membership organization with 3,100 of the state's 3,700 odd lawyers as its members. The Bar exam is administered and overseen by the Maine Board of Bar Examiners and the Board of Overseers of the Bar. Judicial misconduct complaints and investigations come under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Responsibility and Disability Committee. |